In the beginning of the year, I started a YA story with flying pterosaur aliens and riders – grouped under the Jin-Yin Universe. I posted it up last week on Smashwords… and was pleasantly surprised to see reviews for it!

I ended up focusing – oh dear, writing my saving salve! – on putting out “Rider”, a YA science fiction novella. I want to know how people would react to the story. Should I continue? Perhaps I have something to think about after work. I have been reading the posts in my f-list and one post struck me.

We all fight with our insecurities when it comes to publishing and I think we hurt the hardest when our stories fail or we think they fail. Perhaps we might not be as good as the “A List” authors in the scene and perhaps we wrestle with the thought we are bargain-bin authors. The self-doubt is overwhelming.

To the writers in this position (and I feel that I am in it too): Do. Not. Give. Up. Our readers are out there. They might not even be as vocal as we want to be (“Oh, look at Author So-So and hir enthusiastic fans falling over each other to help hir!”). But they are there.

So. These are my thoughts for tonight. A lot of my brain power/creativity is now siphoned off by my work. work.

The wolves in my urban fantasy series can be considered “werewolves”. Likewise, they can be shifters. When I first started writing and the world of the Lang grew in my head, the idea that they were actually wolf-weres became stronger.

For people who play D & D, you might be aware that wolf-weres are actually wolves who can shift into human. I think there are authors who have explored this concept as well in fantasy and paranormal fiction.

Yes, the Lang are wolf-weres, of sorts.

Yet, I sometimes wonder if we as authors are splitting hairs when it comes to terminology. And if so, why?